Briefly State

Man held with 1 kg smack
Amritsar: The State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) of the Punjab Police’s Intelligence Wing arrested one Maghar Singh,a resident of Anngarh here,and recovered one kg of smack from his possession. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSOC) Manminder Singh said Maghar was arrested from near the railway station when he was waiting to deliver the consignment to a contact. The SSP said the seized smack seemed to be part of a bigger consignment Maghar was a member of the notorious Rocky alias Sikandar gang operating in Maqboolpura and Anngarh.

Stone laid for first-ever DAV University
Jalandhar: Industries and Commerce Minister Manoranjan Kalia today laid the foundation stone of DAV University at Jalandhar. This is the first ever university to be set up by the DAV Managing Committee (DAVMC) that runs a chain of schools and colleges all over India. Speaking on the occasion,DAVMC Secretary Punam Suri said: “This is a great moment for DAV institutions. We hail the efforts of Professor C L Kochher,director of DAV Jalandhar,who worked ceaselessly to establish this university.” Other members of the committee said research would be a major thrust area for the university,adding that poor and underprivileged students would be given incentives. In the first phase,the university will have a school of engineering and technology,a school of management,a school of languages and a school of sciences.

Chief secretary visits Bathinda refinery
Bathinda: Punjab Chief Secretary S C Aggarwal visited Guru Gobind Singh Oil Refinery on Friday to take stock of the ongoing work. He held a meeting with refinery officials who claimed that 89 per cent of the work had been completed by September 2010. They added that around 30,000 workers were working round the clock to ensure that the refinery was commissioned on schedule.

KVM,Greenpeace on mission to save soil from chemical fertilisers
Bathinda: For the first time in Punjab,farmers of Sangat Block of Bathinda district will organise a public hearing to save the soil from harmful impacts of chemical fertilisers. Kheti Virasat Mission (KVM) executive director Umendra Dutt said Punjab was among the states worst affected by soil degradation. Dutt said the public hearing to be held on October 26 in Bukhianwali village (Baghwangarh) was being facilitated by KVM and Greenpeace. Dutt said that the initiative was part of Living Soils,a nationwide campaign launched by Greenpeace India and being run by KVM and Greenpeace in Punjab.

Reality and not emotions must determine Indo-Pak ties: Ex-foreign secy Kanwal Sibal
Amritsar: Stating that normalisation of India’s relations with Pakistan is still a distant dream,former foreign secretary and ambassador Kanwal Sibal said the bilateral relations between the two countries were exceedingly complex and multidimensional. He was speaking on ‘Indo-Pak Relations’,a seminar organised by Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) under the aegis of Ministry of External Affairs under its special series of programmes over India’s foreign policy. “Pakistan has no historical basis; it has only a political one. The two-nation theory lost its meaning with millions of Muslims staying on in India in 1947. It was further eroded with the creation of Bangladesh,” he said. Prof Jagrup Singh Sekhon,Director,All India Services Pre-Examination Training Centre,was the organiser of the seminar. Vice-Chancellor A S Brar,and Joint Secretary,MEA,Navdeep Suri also spoke on the occasion.